Police search for 17-year-old rape suspect after assault near Pearl-Cohn

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at 6:52pm

Staff reports

Pearl-Cohn High School was placed on lockdown around 11:30 Tuesday morning while police searched for a juvenile suspect who sexually assaulted a 23-year-old woman in her Booker Street home.

Police are searching for a 17-year-old who, as witnesses told police, entered the victim’s home shortly after 11 a.m. before assaulting the woman at gunpoint and robbing the home of cash and other items. The suspect may have also lived on Booker Street, according to a release from the police department.

A juvenile arrest order has been issued for the 17-year-old, charging him with aggravated rape, and additional charges against him are pending. The City Paper does not identify minors who have not been charged as adults.

Police allege that the suspect ran from the house to a nearby getaway car. Police believe he was driven to the Edgehill Avenue area and dropped off this afternoon.

During the investigation, Metro police had part of Booker Street closed between 24th and 25th avenues.

A Metro Nashville Public Schools spokeswoman said the lockdown at the high school was lifted at 1:20 p.m. and that there had been no indication students were involved in the incident.